EU to Lift Burundi Suspension

The European Union (EU) had started the processes of lifting sanctions against Burundi which stop financial aid to the government of the East African nation.

EU Ambassador to Burundi, Claude Bochu, made this announcement on Monday.

The EU had suspended direct financial support to the Burundian government in March 2016 following the political crisis sparked bythen President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial third term bid.

At the end of May this year, the EU working groups unanimously gave the direction to the bloc’s judicial institutions to revoke the suspension of the financial aid to the Burundian government, Bochu told a press briefing after meeting President Evariste Ndayishimiye.

The move follows positive progress initiated by Ndayishimiye in promoting governance, rule of law and human rights, he said, adding that the EU is expecting more positive results.

Bochu also disclosed the EU, together with other partners like the African Development Bank, will finance the rehabilitation of the Port of Bujumbura and its surroundings before the end of this year, thereby contributing more funds to the farming sector.

The EU sanctions expire in October unless they are renewed for another year.

In a related development, a group of NGOs have written an open letter to EU Foreign Ministers on Monday saying the bloc should not relax sanctions against Burundi until the regime stops the persecution of journalists and human rights activists.

The NGOs in the letter, said political opponents are being arrested and mistreated daily in the country and “dozens of new torture cases have been documented since the 2020 elections, with at least one detainee dying in detention after being tortured by intelligence agents in 2021.”